Environmental Challenges Facing The American Auto Industry Essay

Without question, the 1920s “new era” was one of the eras in American history that made the most progress, especially from immense business and industry contributions. These business and industry contributions to America included the creation of automobiles, radios, house appliances, and much more. Not only did these product contributions change America, but also efficiency improved within the “new era” increasing the production of goods. Overall in this time period, the consumer culture had a significant change with the development of mass production industries, welfare capitalism, and government efforts to enforce prosperity abroad.

One significant person of the 1920s was Henry Ford. He was the inventor of the model T car and founder

There were many advancements made in the 1920s, such as Henry Ford’s new approach to manufacturing. Ford was an American industrialist who was

“With one workman doing a complete job he could turn out from thirty-five to forty pieces in a nine-hour day, or about twenty minutes to an assembly. What he did alone was then spread into twenty-nine operations; that cut down the assembly time to thirteen minutes” (Ford, 45). Ford had nearly cut the production time of one Ford Model T in half, allowing for more automobiles to be produced in a day. The Ford Motor Company was able to produce 150 Ford Model Ts every day and eventually reached nearly 10,000 Model Ts a day by 1925 (Sandler, 21). Each worker would contribute his skill at assembling a single part of the Model T, and once he completed his task he would pass the Model T on to the next worker in line along the assembly line, similar to the meat production factory in which Ford envisioned his idea. His idea soon caught on and became an idealistic way to mass produce products in America which soon caught on to other industries and continued to inspire the ways Americans would produce goods even to this day.

In the early 1900’s there were very few car manufacturers in the United States and only the very wealthy owned a car. Henry Ford saw this as an opportunity to produce an affordable vehicle

There were many inventions in the decade of the 1920’s. One of the inventions were that Henry Ford invented the Model-T automobile. It became so famous that each family in the U.S had one car. This automobile made life easier for workers. They didn’t need to live close to where they worked anymore. The automobile also made it easier for people to visit their relatives who didn’t live as close to them. Because of this invention, they started arranging various highways. Not only did the Model-T automobile have an impact by making it easier for people to travel places, but it also affected life during this decade by increasing road construction and motivating oil industries.

Everything was changing. Cars were changing, the people buying the cars were changing, and the amount of companies selling cars was changing. The 1920’s were the years that the automobile industry became huge in the United States.

The development of the new industry bloomed due to manufacturing of automobiles creating more jobs for Americans. It became the greatest social and economical impact that created the assembly line making it easier to gain more mass production. More industries took part of the movement that it impacted the airplanes too, making it more affordable to travel. Soon almost every American was purchasing and driving making traveling easier for families to get closer. Not only was the new developed automobile industry blooming but also the stock market. It was so easy for anyone to get a loan and use their credit. The bank had to raise up the prices it only became a get-rich-fast scheme for everyone that it became the talk of the country.

During the 1920s the only people that owned cars were the rich, Henry Ford was not a very big fan of this so he decided to do something about it. Mr.Ford started a car manufacturing company,

One of the first new and improved car of the 1920’s was the Ford Model N (“Automobiles”). The Model N was said to be “the very first instance of a low cost motorcar driven by a gas engine having enough cylinders to give the shaft a turning impulse in each shaft turn which is well built and offered in large numbers” (“Automobiles”). Encouraged by the Model N, Ford wanted to better and more improved car. Ford then built the four cylinder, twenty horsepower Model T, that usually sold for around $825 (“Automobiles”). The Model T had a two speed transmission making it easier to drive, and a detachable cylinder for easier repair. Vanadium Steel helped make the Model T a lighter and more durable car, and at the same time it was guaranteed a smooth ride because of its high chassis. With all of these new types of cars there were also some luxury cars that were available. In 1929 the Rolls Royce Phantom came out, selling between $17,000-$18,000, having the top of the line features for this time era (“Rise of Automobiles”). Also there was the Locomobile Model 48 selling for around $13,000 or $130,000 in today’s age (“Rise of Automobiles”). Many of these innovations that we assume are modern were introduced in the 1920’s and played a huge roll in the success of the automobile

This is relevant in the case of Ford Motor Company, an American car manufacturer. In 2016, Ford was unable to compete in the Japanese market and was forced to exit due to

The automobile industry has influenced the US society in many aspects. The automotive production on commercial scale started in Europe in 1890’s. At this time, they were only able to produce a few numbers of cars in the market. When the automobile industry started in the US, cars were considered as toys for rich. From 1904 to 1908, about 241 auto-manufacturing firms went into business. One of these firms was Ford Motor Company, led by Henry Ford, which outpaced its competitors in a very short time. After Ford Model N success in the market, Henry Ford was encouraged to introduce his Model T car to the market; after several failed product lines. As a result of its durability and price, Henry Ford innovated one of the most important innovations

The American automotive industry always has to defend itself from foreign competition. For example, in 2012 only 21,150 vehicles – cars, trucks, and buses - were imported from the United States into Japan, but 131,080 vehicles were imported from Germany (JAMA, 2013). This just goes to show that, at least in certain geographical areas, the United States does not even come close to leading the market in industry sales. Since there is really nothing that the industry can do to counteract this, it must establish itself as a market leader in the domestic market. One of the ways that the American automotive industry has incentivized purchasing American-made vehicles as opposed to importing foreign-made vehicles is to impose a duty on most foreign-made vehicles. Canadian-made vehicles are

effect the American auto industry are; global competition in the industry, new technology for powering

The American manufacturers’ flat-footed response and improved perception of import quality led to growing importance of imported vehicles, with unit sales of imported vehicles exceeding 4.1 million by 1986 (Arnholt & Keenan, 1996). However, lower fuel prices and voluntary trade self-constraint by the Japanese put greater demand back on the American industry, just in time for the minivan revolution, for which Chrysler was particular well-positioned under Iacocca (Benjamin, 1999; Stepler, 1985, pp. 74-76).